Music Reviews

Self-Released 2014

Right from the very first notes of the opening song "Darkness Befalls This Cursed Land", you know you're in for a trip down metal lane. The classic fade in sets you up for the righteous metal saga that Procession so eloquently weaves from beginning to end.

I really dig the way that no riff sounds rushed. The spacing accomplished in these arrangements are brilliantly suited for Josh McConnell's classically-highish metal vocals. I quite like when and where you can find the vocals in the midst of all of these tasty hooks.

Self released, 2015

Full disclosure: Matthew Rogers, vocalist and keyboardist for Fleece, is a current DJ at CJLO. The album was recorded at CJLO's "The Oven" studio by our Production Director Patrick McDowell. So, as Omar our head music director so rightly put it "this is a family affair".

Sub Pop, 2015

Viet Cong is the self-titled debut by this foursome from Calgary. This album is the follow up to last year's Cassette EP, and it's chalked full of sonic whines, hums and murmurs all set in a kind of impending doom-like atmosphere. The album often seems to musically wrestle between pessimism and optimism; a sense of doom often interrupted by bursts of hope.

SRA 2014

The debut album by Philly rockers Hound allows each of us to scratch our rock itch, to indulge in an album that is relentless rock 'n' roll. Out Of Time consists of ten tracks, six of which are under three minutes in length. At less than twenty-eight minutes, this album doesn't allow for any superfluous bells or whistles, there's rockin' to be done.

Self-released, July 2014

If I try to describe the debut album from Eagle Tears, I think of times when music actually held some technical clout. I think the '70s. There's a total '70s metal and hard rock vibe, but to stop there would be too easy. I'll have to get to that in my summation, it'll come.

Our Love is Dan Snaith's fourth LP, and first in four years, under his Caribou moniker. Throughout the 10 tracks of the album, Snaith creates a rich tapestry of sounds that have a warmth and richness to them that envelops the listener at each turn. It's always quite amazing to find artists who can take the seemingly cold and calculating (computers, software programs, electronic equipment, and so on) and manipulate them to ultimately achieve a sound that offers a kind of 21st Century campfire warmth.

Rock Ridge Music, 2014

Mass Appeal Records, 2014

It's a tense time in the world. We are constantly inundated and bombarded by selected news and pop culture controversies with the lines between the two becoming more blurred. It's increasingly hard to tell what's important or to discern when real news descends into just another form of entertainment for those who live to be outraged. Surely, there must be a saviour somewhere in the midst of this chaos, waiting to save us from this madness?

Oh boy, where to begin? Can a record be great and terrible, enjoyable and infuriating, really smart and incredibly stupid, all at the same time? If this was the goal of Ariel Pink's latest record Pom Pom, then good lord, has he ever succeeded.

Space Invader is ex-KISS guitarist Ace Frehley's newest release; it's the Spaceman's first solo LP in five years. While this album won't blast you off into space, you can be sure it will transport you back in time, a quantum leap if you will, into the body of a sexually-frustrated teenage boy.

Nancy Pants are a fuzzy pop band from Montreal. If you thought that name and description implied half an hour or so of imminent fun and sometimes silly times, then you were quite correct. There is simplicity and an immediacy to their songs and style that can make it easy to overlook the craft of the songwriting on their promising first record, Total Nancy Pants. This is a record that grabs your attention from the get-go and one that makes sure it doesn't lose you.

Highways, Heartaches and Time Well Wasted is the newest release by musician Lisa LeBlanc. According to LeBlanc, this six track EP was inspired by her travels through the U.S. in the beat generation tradition. It consists of five original tracks and her take on the American folk song "Katie Cruel". This EP surges ahead with a raw and at times grungy musical aesthetic, which is propelled by Lisa's powerful and pleading vocals.

Sweet Nothings is the seventh studio album from the freshly-reunited Maryland metal maestros, Dog Fashion Disco.

If the movie Three Men and a Baby starred George Clinton, Al Jourgensen, and Mike Patton instead of Guttenberg, Selleck, and Danson—that baby would have grown up to become Sweet Nothings. But that doesn't even begin to explain how eclectic this album is. A full detailed description of the audible influences would take much more than the few hundred words I've been allotted, so I'll try to sum it up like this: